What Is Meditation? A Science-Based Introduction To Mindfulness

What is meditation — really?
Is it about stopping thoughts, calming the mind, or doing something “right”?

This course offers a clear and gentle answer.

“What Is Meditation? A Science-Based Introduction to Mindfulness” is a practical and accessible introduction to meditation, grounded in modern psychology and neuroscience — and designed for real life.

In this course, you’ll explore meditation not as a technique to fix yourself, but as a way of becoming familiar with your inner experience: thoughts, emotions, sensations, and sounds — exactly as they are.

Through short explanations and simple up to 5-minute practices, you will learn:
• what meditation actually is (and what it is not)
• why a busy or distracted mind is not a problem
• how mindfulness supports attention, emotional balance, and inner stability
• how meditation is understood today through scientific research
• how to begin practicing in a gentle, non-effortful way

The practices in this course include awareness of the body, breathing, and sounds — offering multiple easy entry points into meditation, especially for beginners.

No prior experience is needed.
There is nothing you need to believe in, achieve, or perfect.

This course is an invitation to slow down, pause, and reconnect with the present moment — one short practice at a time.

Leçon 1: What Is Meditation?

This lesson offers a clear and grounded introduction to meditation. It explores meditation as a practice of awareness rather than a method for controlling thoughts or achieving a particular state. You’ll be invited to relate to thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations with openness and curiosity, without judgment or pressure to change anything.

Leçon 2: Mindfulness Practice: Returning To The Present

This short mindfulness practice introduces a gentle way of returning to the present moment. Using body sensations, breath, and sounds as natural anchors, the practice emphasizes ease and simplicity. It offers an accessible entry into meditation without effort, striving, or the need to concentrate in a specific way.

Leçon 3: Why Do We Meditate? The Science of Inner Stability

This lesson explores meditation from a scientific and psychological perspective. It explains how mindfulness supports attention, emotional balance, and a more stable relationship with stress. You’ll learn how meditation works not by eliminating difficulties, but by changing how we relate to thoughts, emotions, and everyday challenges.

Leçon 4: Breathing Meditation For Daily Life

This practice offers a simple breathing meditation designed for everyday life. The focus is on noticing the breath as it naturally unfolds, without trying to regulate or improve it. The practice supports presence and awareness while encouraging a relaxed, non-effortful relationship with attention and experience.

Leçon 5: From East To West: Meditation And Science

This lesson explores how meditation moved from ancient contemplative traditions into modern scientific research. It highlights the dialogue between experiential practice and contemporary psychology and neuroscience, showing how meditation is understood today as a practical, human capacity that can be studied and cultivated.

Leçon 6: Sound Meditation: A Gentle Way Into Presence

This meditation uses sound as the focus of awareness, offering an effortless entry into presence. By listening to sounds as they arise and fade, the practice supports open and relaxed attention. It is especially suitable for beginners or for moments when focusing on the breath feels difficult or effortful.